HOLLYWOOD -- James Caan insists he's mellowed into being a family man.

He and his fourth wife, Linda, have two young sons and a new ranch in Utah.

He's a safe distance from the wild ways and wild days of the 1980s, when he was one of Hollywood's top actors and top libertines.

He lived at the Playboy mansion abusing sex, drugs and alcohol.

"I was riding high in those days," Cann says. "Every major script in town came to me. I had my pick of projects and directors, but I have a pretty self-destructive nature."

In 1982, Caan lost his sister to leukemia.

"I was devastated by her death and spiralled downward.

"I didn't want to act. I just left the business.

"I wanted to dedicate my life to my mom and my son Scott. I thought they needed me more than any movie audience."

Caan coached his son's sports teams, but continued to rely on drugs.

"I came to Hollywood when I was 24. I was an athlete. It was in L.A. that I tried my first joint. I was terrified, but I somehow got over that reaction.

"I graduated far too quickly to harder stuff.

"My addiction was a disease. I hurt friends and family. My wakeup call came when I realized that Scott knew what I was doing."

It was a rude awakening that got ruder.

"My absence had created the notion that I was hard to work with and that I had to leave the business because I wasn't behaving well.

"That was not true. I had made 50 films and had never missed a day's work."

There was another strike against Caan.

"I thought I had money, but my accountant had spent it all. I had to go back to Hollywood with hat in hand. That's humiliating and it puts an actor at a huge disadvantage."

Caan credits Rob Reiner and his production company with rescuing him.

"Rob cast me in Misery and Honeymoon in Vegas. Those movies proved I could act and that I was not box-office poison."

Caan has continued to work but he has failed to regain his status as a major power player.

Most of his roles are now in gritty independent films like Way of the Gun -- currently in theatres -- and The Yard, which will open next month.

"I get along with young directors. They like my honesty on and off camera."

Caan came to Black Diamond this past summer to film the comedy Viva Las Nowhere.

"It's a little movie directed by my lawyer's son. I did it as a favour."

He has also completed an action suspense film called In the Shadow with Matthew Modine and Joey Lauren Adams.

"These little movies don't pay much, but they prove I still have my hat in the ring.

"I'd like the chance to make some money again.

"I had to borrow money from a friend to buy my place in Utah, but I knew it was the best thing for my family."

Caan's new sons are five years old and 22 months old.

"I'm 60 years old. I didn't set out to start a new family. It just happened, but I'm determined to make this a family in every way."


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